Blyth Workcats Delivers New Dive Boat

Posted by Eric Haun

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Laura Dean is a new 11-meter dive boat for the Mevagh Dive Center (Photo courtesy of Blyth Workcats)

Blyth Workcats of Canvey Island, U.K. has delivered a new 11-meter dive boat to the Mevagh Dive Center in County Donegal on the west coast of Ireland. The new boat has now begun work transporting groups of up to 12 divers to sites along the Atlantic coast of Ireland where numerous wrecks make it an interesting but challenging region for recreational divers.

The Laura Dean is powered by two Iveco N67 420 hp engines and features a hull design developed for optimal performance while also maintaining the Blyth Workcat’s reputation for tough reliability and exceptional sea-keeping in extreme conditions. These are important features for the Dive Center’s customers and the boat has consequently been given Irish P5 certification for it to operate up to 60-miles offshore with the hull specified to LLR SSC G2 rules.

Passenger and crew accommodation consists of a wheelhouse and a small saloon seating area with a toilet and galley facilities. The wheelhouse roof also extends aft to create a sheltered area for passengers. Stainless steel seating is fitted along each side and in the center of the after-deck where racks have also been fitted for carrying divers’ air tanks.

Because many of the Mevagh Dive Center’s clients may dive to significant depths they are likely to be carrying bulky and heavy equipment and additional tanks. An important feature of the new boat is, therefore, a hydraulic dive lift mounted on the transom. Easy access to the lift is provided through a gate in the transom which ensures the safe and efficient deployment and recovery of divers regardless of how heavily laden they might be.

The Mevagh Dive Center is located near Letterkenny in County Donegal. The business has grown steadily since it was established in 2004 and the new Blyth Workcat has become an integral part of its ongoing expansion. Operating out of Downings, the new boat is also available for angling excursions and for providing sea safaris along the Atlantic coast.

The 11-meter Blyth Workcat was chosen by the Mevagh Dive Center from a range consisting of 10, 11, 12, 14 and 17-meter catamarans that are built for all types of marine work. This includes fisheries patrol, wind farm support, surveying, passenger ferry, fishing charter or any other workboat tasks that require high performance and good sea-keeping combined with stability and extensive load carrying capability. All are built from GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) to offer important advantages over metal-hulled boats such as lower running costs and a reduced expenditure when buying the vessels. GRP boats also keep their good looks for longer and can be built to provide additional strength where it is needed and valuable weight savings wherever the design permits it. The strong yet comparatively light weight of a Blyth Workcats GRP hull also enables smaller engines to be used. This results in greater economy and higher speeds which, due to carefully designed hull profiles and chines, improve handling and sea-keeping in extreme conditions. Hull lamination and construction is governed by meticulous quality control so the customer can benefit from a boat that has been built to meet their requirements exactly while enabling rugged strength and reinforcement to be added where it is needed.